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In This Issue
Recommended Reading: Quiet: The Power of Introverts
Leading Global Teams
Taking Gender into Account: Theory & Design for WLD Programs
Emotionality & Leadership: Taking Stock of the Past Decade of Research
 
Dear Clients & Partners, 
 

Welcome to the Spring 2012 of Executive Edge, where we share current leadership theories and research sourced and abstracted from preeminent academic journals. 

 

We hope these insights will facilitate your success as a leader and aid in the development of others. Do let me know if you'd like to know more about any of these studies. 

 

We've also added our Spring recommended reading to this edition, as well as information on Women, Wit and Wisdom, our Facebook community for all interested in advancing the development of women. 

  

Sincerely,
 
DCP Margarett

 
Margaret D'Onofrio
Principal / Executive Coach
 


RECOMMENDED READING
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking 
 
by Susan Cain
PowerofIntrovertsBookJacket  
Drawing on cutting-edge research in psychology and neuroscience, the author reveals key differences between extroverts and introverts. She talks to Asian-American students who feel alienated from the brash, backslapping atmosphere of American schools. She questions the dominant values of American business culture, where forced collaboration can stand in the way of innovation, and where the leadership potential of introverts is often overlooked. Check out the book website where you'll find audio and video clips, a forum and more. 
Featured Article
FROM THE WEB





 

F

eatW3 Logo Women, Wit and Wisdom is now on Facebook. Click the icon above and like our page. We post research and thought-leadership, ideas and advice, women in the news and more. For anyone who is interested in advancing women's development, please visit us and join the conversation. 

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JournalWorldBiz Leading Global Teams

Journal of World Business (02/18/12) Zandera, Lena; Mockaitisb, Audra I.; Butlerc, Christina L. 

 

Multinational organizations are increasingly using global teams characterized by national, cultural, and linguistic heterogeneity, operating in a globally dispersed virtual environment, to organize work. With global team leadership research being rather limited, this study examines literature on leading multicultural and virtual teams in global context, with a focus on leadership competencies, styles, strategies, and modes. The researchers also look at the emerging concepts of biculturalism, global mindset, and cultural intelligence regarding their organizations' team leaders. The goal of the study is to improve knowledge on leading global teams, highlight recent trends, and suggest future research possibilities. 

 

WorldbizjournalmodelResearchers found three themes for global leadership. (See Figure). Leaders as boundary spanners, bridge makers, and blenders; people oriented leadership; and leveraging diversity.

 

Team members ranked people-oriented leadership styles like transformational, inspirational, and servant leadership very strongly, and studies have shown a link between leadership style and team effectiveness. However, team members' evaluations of leader effectiveness are not solely dependent on the leadership style. Leader effectiveness has been shown to be the result of an interaction between leadership style, meaning empowering versus directive behavior, and how the leader's status is judged. 

 

Global team leaders should strive to motivate and inspire, coach and mentor, and take a personal interest in team members. While these values are of benefit to all leaders, in virtual and cross-cultural environments they must be paired with cross-cultural awareness. The study says additional research is needed on how feasible, effective, and successful people-oriented leadership practices are in the virtual and multicultural context of a global team.  

Taking Gender into Account: Theory and Design for Women's Leadership Development Programs  

GenderBias
Academy of Management Learning & Education, Sept 2011. Robin J Ely. Herminia Ibarra & Deborah Kolb   

 

In spite of similar numbers of men and women entering the labor force in the last twenty-five years, women still remain under-represented at senior levels. 

  

Policies aimed at over-coming gender discrimination have failed to close this gap and women's progress has in fact slowed in recent years. The authors frame leadership development as "identity work" requiring the individual to:

  • Internalize a leader identity (coming to see oneself and being seen by others as a leader) 
  • Develop an elevated sense of purpose 

Men have more role models and rely on imitation strategies as they transition to leadership roles, where leadership norms are socially and culturally defined in masculine terms. For women, there are several impediments to leader identity development, including: 

  • Lack of role models
  • Gendered career paths and gendered work
  • Lack of access to networks and sponsors 
  • Women's heightened visibility 

Ely, Ibarra, and Kolb propose three new principles to drive women's leadership programs (WLPs):  

  1. Situate topics and tools in an analysis of second-generation gender bias. Participants receive a nuanced understanding of second-generation bias and how it may impact their own career development and that of other women in their firms.
  2. Create a holding environment to support women's identity work. The programs create a safe environment and peer networks that support participants in understanding and shaping who they are and who they can become.
  3. Anchor participants on their leadership purpose. WLPs redirect the participants away from a single-minded focus on career advancement and managing other people's perceptions of them as leaders, and toward identifying larger leadership purposes and the actions they need to undertake to accomplish them.

The authors argue that their view of leadership development as identity work offers a radically different perspective on what women need to learn to be effective leaders.

Emotionality and Leadership: Taking Stock of the Past Decade of Research

The Leadership Quarterly (12/11) Vol. 22, No. 6, P. 1107 Rajah, Rashimah; Song, Zhaoli; Arvey, Richard D.

 

Oscar Wilde Quote

Today's leaders must handle the challenges of effectively managing workplace emotions.

 

In times past, employees were expected to be emotionally neutral, but emotions are now perceived as being central to experiences at work and are studied as relevant predictors of performance. 

 

Stimuli in a work environment trigger actions and reactions from individuals, resulting in emotional experiences and subsequent emotional expressions and behaviors. For example, if an individual encounters injustice in the workplace, he or she could either view it as an event that causes anger, or the event may not evoke any intense emotional response at all should the individual have a higher tolerance for negative inequity. Similar events may result in different emotions throughout an organization, and similar emotions may be associated with different outcomes. 

 

Understanding emotionality in leadership is important because emotion may affect decision making, leadership styles, and other elements of leadership. For example, when stressful situations cause negative situations in groups, not only are leaders' emotional reactions important, but their ability to regulate emotions in their team is also vital. Studying emotions and leadership can help promote a better understanding of the social interactions and dynamics at the workplace beyond assigned job roles and activities. Furthermore, while emotions can and do disrupt work, instead of avoiding emotions at work it is perhaps better to embrace the fact that emotions will impact work interactions and find ways to overcome negative effects like burnout or emotional exhaustion. 

Coaching Columbia Alliance

D'Onofrio Consulting Partners is a founding member of Columbia Coaching Alliance, a world-class group of seasoned executive and organizational coaches with diverse industry experience and unparalleled capability. Their access to Columbia's cutting-edge research in psychology, neuroscience, and organizational development establish an unmatched resource in the field and, together with their global professional network of coaching associations and support personnel, enable organizations to leverage their human capital advantage.


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DCP Contact

Margaret D'Onofrio
Principal & Executive Coach
Four Oaks Place, 1330 Post Oak Boulevard, Suite 1600
Houston, TX 77056
Tel: (713)-963-3673
Fax: (281)-286-1129


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